Quindlen shares what it takes to be a writer

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, October 21, 2008

DANBURY ­- At some level writing is not about words but confidence, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and author Anna Quindlen told a class of writing students at WestConn.
"Writing is incredibly difficult, but it's the thing you'll need most consistently throughout your life,'' she said. No matter what your profession, she added.
The question becomes how good will the work be and how much of the writer it will reflect. "I don't know a single working writer who doesn't find it difficult and question if they are good enough.''
Quindlen spoke Tuesday at Western Connecticut State University to the students of assistant professor Elizabeth Cohen. Cohen was Quindlen's assistant at The New York Times from 1990 to 1995, during which time Quindlen won the Pulitzer.
"In writing you can be yourself in a lasting way, not only for others but for yourself,'' said Quindlen, who spent a quarter of a century with The New York Times as a reporter and columnist, and now writes a column for Newsweek. She's also the author of five novels, six books of nonfiction and two children's books. Students asked her how she developed the stand she takes on issues, like abortion and gay rights.
The 56-year-old mother of three, two of whom are writers, said she reports extensively on many of the topics she chooses, which gives her confidence in the substance of her opinion. She often uses her daily hour-long power walks to frame her arguments and wants her tone to be like kitchen table talk.
"When you write the pieces I write, it's not that I am trying to change hearts and minds, but to have someone say 'I never thought of it that way,' " Quindlen said.
When she started writing columns, she would remind herself that she was not trying to be popular.
Writers must get over the fear of reprisal otherwise they won't take controversial stances, she said. She also said her education at the women-only college, Barnard in New York, helped build her confidence.
"I'm standing in for hundreds of thousands of other citizens," she said. "It's not about arrogance to stand above it all but the confidence to distill and elevate a position."
She said her time as a news reporter taught her to write on demand and be comfortable with the editing process.
"I think being a reporter and columnist made me a better human being,'' she said. "I feel like being a reporter has been the making of me."
She said she also tries to emulate the approach of her favorite author, Charles Dickens, who uses small details to bring his books to life.
She reads everything she writes out loud before she sends it on to the editor, whether it is a column or a book, which she said can help writers find their voice, she said. "You can develop a rhythm to sentences that will pull the reader along, even if the topic is not that interesting.''
She wouldn't predict the future of the newspaper industry, but expected the demand for news either online or in print would provide work for reporters even if it's not like her first job.
WestConn junior Jason Arrowitz, of Danbury, a writing major, said it was enlightening to hear from someone who experienced all the problems that he will face.
Freshman Nick Kyriacou of New Fairfield read Quindlen's columns in Cohen's class and felt her best advice for him was "to read his stuff out loud.'' Since he never met a published writer before, he was impressed that Quindlen talks like she writes.
"It puts a whole different perspective to meet someone who has such a strong voice in society," Kyriacou said. "I found it enjoyable."
Quindlen said she wanted students to see a writer.
"I want them to understand that ordinary people do this as work and I don't think I had a real sense of that when I started,'' Quindlen said after the 90-minute class. "I want to show them it is possible and it is difficult. It's a mythology when we're growing up that it is effortless if you are good at something."